Friday, December 6, 2013

Sharpie Mugs that ACTUALLY Work!!

These things are literally ALL over pinterest right now, and I thought it's time to give them a shot!! I looked at what seemed like hundreds of tutorials and blogs and this is what worked for me!

Sharpie Mugs!

First, the tips I have collected from some blogs/videos and my own experience:

Use an oil-based sharpie!! I saw a ton of blogs recommend these and I wanted to do it right the first time!

Use a cheaper mug - cheaper mugs are supposed to have thinner glaze so it's easier to get your marker to stick - I used better homes and gardens mugs from the Wal-Mart (they were like $2.34 a piece) which had pretty thick glaze but it worked nonetheless

You need to bake them hotter than you think - most blogs say 350 degrees for 30 mins. Well I tried that and the results were disastrous. After baking them at 425 degrees for an additional 30 mins things looked much better.

FORGET the acrylic glaze - I tried three different products and ALL of them made the paint bleed.

UPDATE: After almost a year, it seems that these still hold up fairly well with hand washing. The drawings inside of the mug have totally worn away, but the outside is doing alright! I'm not sure how often my girlfriends use them, though.

What you'll need:

- Oil-based sharpies

- White (or any color) mugs

- Paper towels

- Rubbing Alcohol

- Access to an oven

Here are what the sharpies look like: I found them at Michael's in a pack of 5 for less than $20 - I'd say they were worth it.

Step #1: The Design

I made these mugs for my veterinary school girlfriends. We're entering finals in 2 weeks and let's be real, life just kinda sucks right now. We all love the profession but we've had 78 exams too many at this point. But come March, we'll be in clinics and life will be good again!! So I thought I would try to make the mugs a little uplifting or just truthful.

Step #2: Writing your Message

Some blogs show that they traced their designs on with charcoal.. I didn't have charcoal so I tried pencils and pens but nothing would write on the glaze. So I just did everything freehand. Have your rubbing alcohol and a paper towel close by - if you screw up you can quickly wipe off your mess with an alcohol-laden paper towel.

In addition to the messages, I also added hearts on the inside, names on the handles, and a date on the back!

Step #3: Baking - Method One

Here's where things go haywire. I had decided from reading several blogs that I would bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins, let the mugs cool and use a clear glaze. Well.. here we go.

I put my mugs on a layer of tinfoil in the oven cool. Then closed the oven, allowed it to reach 350 degrees and then started my timer for 30 mins. You want the mugs to heat and cool with the oven - if you stick them straight into a hot oven they could crack. I let them cool with the oven door open for about an hr.

Here's what things looked like after 30 mins:

not too different.

I let them dry overnight. I used my test mug to see if I could scrape marker off and I could, so then I went to use my clear glaze......

I have three of them. Well, I had two of them and convinced myself I wasn't using the right kind and went out and got another. *grumble grumble*

All three of them caused my marker to do this:

So I would not recommend ANY clear glaze..

Step #3: Baking - Method TWO

Then while wallowing in my disappointment, I found a video about them on youtube (here) that said to bake them hotter! So I did! This time I put them in at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Success! The red turned a little darker, but I can't scrape any of the marker off, so I am now quite pleased. And this method completely avoids the need for clear glaze!

Hi Alyssa,I was wondering if there's any concern about the heart being safe for drinks, etc... I've found so many markers online that safe they work on porcelain and glass and some even imply they are food safe, but as soon as I head off to the store to buy them, when I find them in the store, the packages always say that they shouldn't be used where food/drink will touch them. So just wondering if hot drink, like cocoa or coffee will effect the heart and if it will be safe for drinking. I'd love to do this with some white dinner plates...decorative border but then a single small design on the plates itself, similiar to how you added the single heart.

Hi Susan! A valid concern, for sure. I was worried about this too and originally was too nervous to do the heart. I know most Sharpie markers (including the oil based ones) have that little "AP" seal on them so I decided to look up what that meant. I found on the ACMI website that AP means that the markers are an "approved product" and contain "no materials in sufficient quantities to be toxic or injurious to humans, including children, or to cause acute or chronic health problems". After reading that I felt a lot better about adding the hearts since toxicology studies are usually pretty robust. You can access the ACMI website here: http://www.acminet.org/index.php?option=com_safetytips&view=safetytips&Itemid=64#2

As for heating.. I'm not really sure what it will do, but I figure since I had them in the oven at 425, whatever reaction would have happened already happened and no beverages that are going in the mugs are ever going to be close to 425, so I'm kinda just trusting the marker now!

In the second method, did you put the mugs in the oven before the temperature had reached 425? I ask because in the first method it was stated that you put them in the oven, then set the temp and the timer. ;) Just wondering, thank you!

the silver seems to hold up pretty well! I don't think I've used the gold yet, but plan to soon! The red marker did get darker with baking, so the most I would expect is gold and silver just getting a bit darker.

Thank you for writing this, I've drawn my designs and I've been contemplating using a spray or baking them at a higher temp and now I know how both will turn out ^__^ Have you made any more using other colors since this post?

out of curiosity, did you use the same mugs for each project or did you use new mugs for the second one? it appears that you baked the mugs first at 350 for 30 min. then re baked them for 425 at 30 min.